Content streaming is a well-known and popular technique for delivering content over a wired or wireless network, or other transmission medium. For example, providers of audio content (e.g., radio networks) may wish to stream audio content over the public internet. In other examples, providers of video content (e.g., television channels) may similarly wish to stream video content, e.g., also over the public internet, or over a private network (e.g., a corporate intranet).
In these and similar contexts, content streaming generally refers to the technique of playing or otherwise rendering a given portion of a content file, while a subsequent portion of the content file is still in the process of being downloaded or otherwise delivered. In other words, the content file being streamed is progressively downloaded and rendered, until an entirety of the content file has been played or otherwise rendered for consumption thereof by a receiving user. In this way, a consumer of the content file (e.g., a viewer of a video file) may advantageously begin to experience a given content file much sooner than if the consumer were required to download an entirety of the content file before being allowed to proceed with a rendering thereof.
In practice, however, content streaming is subject to a number of difficulties which may mitigate such advantages. For example, if a given content file is transferred to a player at a rate which is slower than a rate required for continuous rendering of the content by the player, then it may become necessary for the player to temporarily pause the rendering of the streamed content, until a sufficient amount of the content has been received to permit resumption of the rendering. Such pauses are known to be inconvenient to consumers, and may cause the consumers to, e.g., stop viewing a particular video, or to select another provider of the video being viewed. As a result, content providers may suffer a loss of viewership, which may be associated with a loss of profitability or numerous other disadvantages.
Therefore, content providers and other entities (e.g., advertisers who pay to include advertisements in conjunction with streamed content) have a vested interest in being able to judge a quality of a consumer's experience of receiving streamed content. However, it may be difficult to determine the quality of the consumer's experience in a reliable, convenient, and efficient manner, and in a manner which is non-intrusive to the consumer of the streamed content.